Gourmet Products Spain
The three Protected Denomination of Origin Regions
THE FOUR DENOMINATIONS OF ORIGIN
There are 4 regions that have their own D.O. for their Iberian hams, the EU approved Denomination of Origin:
- Guijuelo (Salamanca Province)
- Dehesa de Extremadura (Cáceres and Badajoz Provinces)
- Los Pedroches (Córdoba Province)
Jabugo is a small town in the province of Huelva. It was the first area to gain international fame for the iberian ham.
The town of Jabugo (Huelva province) is in a unique settlement surrounded by natural wonders such as the Parque Natural Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche, dominated by forests of cork and oak. Huelva has long, cold winters and dry summers, where the heat of the day gives way to cool nights. This very special and unique climate of the Sierra of Huelva is key to the taste of the Iberian Ham of Jabugo.
In the southeast part of the province of Salamanca, at an altitude of above 1000 meters, Guijuelo lends its name and its renown to the most important handcrafted Iberian pork producing region in Spain.
This region produces over 65% of the national Iberian porcine livestock.
Sheltered by the Sistema Central mountain range, the privileged microclimate of the region has cold, dry winters and short, cool summers, which allow for a perfect dry-ageing of the hams.
Dehesa de Extremadura
(Cáceres & Badajoz)
Extremadura, with nearly a million hectares of meadow, is an ecological paradise, having one of the best-conserved ecosystems in Europe, where domestic farm animals (Iberian pigs, Merino sheep, Retinto cattle) live harmoniously side by side wild animals (golden eagles, imperial eagles, otters, wild boar, deer, etc.), which find an authentic natural refuge in the meadows that have remained unaltered for centuries.
Situated in the northern part of the Córdoba province, the Pedroches valley takes its name from the town of Pedroche, the oldest in the area. The valley is characterised by the rolling hills, large pastures and hundred year old oak treas. Pedroches is the youngest of the 3 areas that are regulated and protected by the P.D.O. (Protected Denomination of Origin), but is gaining in popularity at a very fast rate.